Any recommendations for Ann Arbor, Michigan

Someone wrote:
:    Check out "Gratzi" for Italian and "Miki" for Japanese. :                                         jenifer

There's a new place with "eclectic" pan-tropical cuisine, Zanzibar.  It's a bit too eccentric for me, but I've heard enthusiastic reviews of it. The Red Hawk (same owners) has some fairly spicy dishes and it's usually good.  Both are on State Street near the corner of Liberty.  West Side Grill is more classic continental (with some touches of Louisiana, like gumbo and beignet) and I had a good filet mignon there, but it's quite expensive (about $40.00 per person, including appetizer, wine and desert).  The Thai restaurant near Kerrytown (I think it's in Braun court) is pretty good unless you are expert in Thai food.  (There are two Thai restaurants, this one is preferred by folks who are more expert than I am). Getting spicy food here can be challenging; there are some 40+ Asian restaurants; many have dishes labelled "spicy" on the menu, but getting them spicy can take a fair amount of pleading with the waitstaff. I think we once asked for "volcanic" after we had received what they considered "hot" and found it mild (at the Beijing). There's a new place that is receiving good reviews (something like Mediterraneo).  I don't think it's particularly spicy cuisine, but it sounds pretty interesting (and *crowded*).

> There's a new place with "eclectic" pan-tropical cuisine, Zanzibar.  It's
> a bit too eccentric for me, but I've heard enthusiastic reviews of it.
I had a plate of noodles at Zanzibar about 10 days ago.  The place was crowded and overhyped, but I have to admit that the noodles were tasty -- and spicy.  (Yet they couldn't resist mixing egg and rice noodles when either alone would have been fine.)  The prices are somewhat high but not outrageous.

Someone wrote:
>
>Someone wrote:
>:    Check out "Gratzi" for Italian and "Miki" for Japanese.
>:                                         jenifer
>
>There's a new place with "eclectic" pan-tropical cuisine, Zanzibar.  It's
>a bit too eccentric for me, but I've heard enthusiastic reviews of it.
>The Red Hawk (same owners) has some fairly spicy dishes and it's usually
>good.  Both are on State Street near the corner of Liberty.  West Side
>Grill is more classic continental (with some touches of Louisiana, like
>gumbo and beignet) and I had a good filet mignon there, but it's quite
>expensive (about $40.00 per person, including appetizer, wine and
>desert).  The Thai restaurant near Kerrytown (I think it's in Braun
>court) is pretty good unless you are expert in Thai food.  (There are two
>Thai restaurants, this one is preferred by folks who are more expert than
>I am). Getting spicy food here can be challenging; there are some 40+
>Asian restaurants; many have dishes labelled "spicy" on the menu, but
>getting them spicy can take a fair amount of pleading with the waitstaff.
>I think we once asked for "volcanic" after we had received what they
>considered "hot" and found it mild (at the Beijing). There's a new place
>that is receiving good reviews (something like Mediterraneo).  I don't
>think it's particularly spicy cuisine, but it sounds pretty interesting
>(and *crowded*).
>--
>Miriam Zelditch
>"Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darueber muss man schweigen."
>(Whereof we cannot speak, thereof we must keep silent)
>Wittgenstein. Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus

There's also Zingerman's Deli in Kerrytown (wonderful sandwiches) and Shahrayar for Indian food (its just south of downtown on Washington? I forget, its been a year). This can be expensive too, so your best bet is to go for the lunch buffet. Pizza House (they deliver til 4am!) has a great honey-mustard chicken sandwich (anything honey-mustard there is wonderful), but I find their pizza a little too greasy for my tastes. Avoid Bruegger's Bagel Bakery. Yuck. They don't taste like real bagels, to my mind. Too soft. However if you go down South U. towards Frat Row, the Bagel Factory manages to make some darn decent bagels for the Midwest, including cutesy-named sandwiches (and don't forget to get a fragel! Cinnamon-raisin bagel dipped in cinnamon-sugar and deep fried, evil, but GOOD). Notice that most of these are more on the junk-food level; hey I was in college there for four years, no way could I afford Gratzi's. :) For wonderful pizza, its Cottage Inn, hands down, just off campus (with a handy location on just about every street corner near campus). For 'Noo Yawk' style deli, that one combination deli and coffeehouse, Amer's, which is ubiquitous. I mean come on, four within one square mile? Good desserts, good sandwiches, and darn good bread. Also have a lot of expensive off the shelf stuff you can buy. And of course, for vegitarian food, there's the one (and only, I believe) Seva. Its hidden right by the comedy club on Washington? Madison? (Its Ann Arbor, you walk, you don't drive downtown if you can help it).  As a non-veggie, I found it pretty good.

Boy, this brings back memories. :) Now I'm hungry!

From [email removed] Fri Jun 13 12:51:06 EDT 1997
Article: 34121 of rec.food.restaurants